The present invention relates to ink-jet printing systems that make use of a replaceable printing component. More particularly, the present invention relates to replaceable printing components that include an electrical storage device for providing information to the printing system.
Ink-jet printers frequently make use of an ink-jet printhead mounted within a carriage that is moved back and forth across a print media, such as paper. As the printhead is moved across the print media, a control system activates the printhead to deposit or eject ink droplets onto the print media to form images and text. Ink is provided to the printhead by a supply of ink that is either carried by the carriage or mounted to the printing system to not move with the carriage. For the case where the ink supply is not carried with the carriage, the ink supply can be intermittently or continuously connected to the printhead for replenishing the printhead. In either case, the replaceable printing components, such as the ink container and the printhead, require periodic replacement. The ink supply is replaced when exhausted. The printhead is replaced at the end of printhead life.
It is frequently desirable to alter printer parameters concurrently with the replacement of printer components such as discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/584,499 entitled xe2x80x9cReplaceable Part With Integral Memory For Usage, Calibration And Other Dataxe2x80x9d assigned to the assignee of the present invention. patent application Ser. No. 08/584,499 discloses the use of a memory device, which contains parameters relating to the replaceable part. The installation of the replaceable part allows the printer to access the replaceable part parameters to insure high print quality. By incorporating the memory device into the replaceable part and storing replaceable part parameters in the memory device within the replaceable component the printing system can determine these parameters upon installation into the printing system. This automatic updating of printer parameters frees the user from having to update printer parameters each time a replaceable component is newly installed. Automatically updating printer parameters with replaceable component parameters insures high print quality. In addition, this automatic parameter updating tends to ensure the printer is not inadvertently damaged due to improper operation, such as, operating after the supply of ink is exhausted or operation with the wrong or non-compatible printer components.
One aspect of the present invention is an inkjet printing system configured for receiving a replaceable ink container. The replaceable ink container has an ink extraction characteristic that varies with ink level in the replaceable ink container. The inkjet printing system includes an ink level determining device for determining ink level within the replaceable ink container. Also included is a control device for selecting a print mode based on ink extraction characteristics of the replaceable ink container.
Another aspect of the present invention is that the print mode is selected from a plurality of print modes. The plurality of print modes includes a first printing mode with a first ink usage rate and a second printing mode with a second ink usage rate different from the first usage rate.
Yet another aspect of the present invention is an inkjet printing system having a printhead responsive to control signals for depositing ink on media and an ink delivery system for delivering ink to the printhead. The inkjet printing system includes a monitoring device for monitoring ink delivered to the printhead by the ink delivery system. Also included is a control device for adjusting print rate based on an ink deposited on media and ink delivered to the printhead.